DURHAM, N.C. -- James Abbruzzese, M.D., a leading expert in the clinical study and treatment of pancreatic cancer, has been named chief of the Division of Medical Oncology and associate director for clinical research at the Duke Cancer Institute.

Abbruzzese, currently chairman of the Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology and Digestive Diseases at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, will assume his new roles at Duke on Nov. 11, 2013.

Abbruzzese earned his medical degree with honors from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and completed his residency in internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He also completed clinical fellowships in infectious diseases at the Johns Hopkins and in medical oncology and medical oncology research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute of Harvard Medical School. He has spent most of his professional career at M.D. Anderson, where he rose through the ranks to his current leadership positions as the Waun Ki Hong Distinguished Chair in Translational Oncology, chairman of the Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology and Associate Vice-Provost for Clinical Research.

Among his many accomplishments, Dr. Abbruzzese is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He has co-authored more than 400 research publications and currently serves as chair of the Clinical Trials and Translational Research Advisory Committee of the National Cancer Institute.

As associate director for clinical research in the Duke Cancer Institute, Abbruzzese will guide and direct DCI’s 13 oncology disease-based clinical research groups. He will be responsible for the clinical trials operation that encompasses more than 1,000 open trials with an average annual accrual of 6,000 patients.

Abbruzzese will also lead the Division of Medical Oncology, a major partner of the DCI. The division has 58 full-time, regular-rank faculty members with substantial clinical activities. The division has a current research portfolio of 188 active clinical trials and $76 million in funding for 111 grants, of which 36 are NIH-sponsored.